A man who claimed that his five-day-old baby was stolen at gunpoint in his home in Ijagbe, Mopa-Muro Local Government Area of Kogi, is being held by the police as a suspect in the matter.
Mr Tosin Ojuola claimed that the baby was stolen 10 days earlier, at about 8pm on April 11 when gunmen invaded their home and forced the wife at gunpoint to surrender the child to them.
At Police Force headquarters in Lokoja on Sunday, Ojuola told NAN that he left home barely 10 minutes when the gunmen invaded his apartment, beat up his wife and took away the child.
“I shouted for help and some youths immediately joined me to go after the gunmen but our efforts yielded no result.”
Ojuola said he reported the matter immediately at the Divisional Police Station in Mopa. He explained that the police came to his house the following day to arrest his landlord and a tenant in the house.
Ojuola said the matter took a twist on April 14 when the police invited him for questioning and later detained him.
“The police told me that the community leaders demanded for my arrest, claiming that the village oracle (Ifa) revealed that I have a hand in the theft of my own baby,” he said.
Ojuola said the case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Police Headquarters, Lokoja, on Wednesday.
“I have been in police cell for seven days without food and without any hope of finding my stolen baby. My image has been tarnished,” added.
Shade Ojuola, his wife told NAN by telephone that she had bathed the baby, laid him in bed when the gunmen emerged.
“I started shouting when they brought out guns and ordered me to shut my mouth; they forced the door open and carried my baby away.”
Shade, who corroborated her husband’s earlier statements, called for immediate release of her husband to enable the family to continue the search for their baby. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Hakeem Busari, when told that the complainant in the case, Mr Tosin Ojuola, had been in detention at the CID Section, expressed shock and asked for time to enable him to find out the real situation from the officer in charge of the CID. However, more than two hours after, the police commissioner did not call back to tell NAN his findings.
Mr Tosin Ojuola claimed that the baby was stolen 10 days earlier, at about 8pm on April 11 when gunmen invaded their home and forced the wife at gunpoint to surrender the child to them.
At Police Force headquarters in Lokoja on Sunday, Ojuola told NAN that he left home barely 10 minutes when the gunmen invaded his apartment, beat up his wife and took away the child.
“I shouted for help and some youths immediately joined me to go after the gunmen but our efforts yielded no result.”
Ojuola said he reported the matter immediately at the Divisional Police Station in Mopa. He explained that the police came to his house the following day to arrest his landlord and a tenant in the house.
Ojuola said the matter took a twist on April 14 when the police invited him for questioning and later detained him.
“The police told me that the community leaders demanded for my arrest, claiming that the village oracle (Ifa) revealed that I have a hand in the theft of my own baby,” he said.
Ojuola said the case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Police Headquarters, Lokoja, on Wednesday.
“I have been in police cell for seven days without food and without any hope of finding my stolen baby. My image has been tarnished,” added.
Shade Ojuola, his wife told NAN by telephone that she had bathed the baby, laid him in bed when the gunmen emerged.
“I started shouting when they brought out guns and ordered me to shut my mouth; they forced the door open and carried my baby away.”
Shade, who corroborated her husband’s earlier statements, called for immediate release of her husband to enable the family to continue the search for their baby. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Hakeem Busari, when told that the complainant in the case, Mr Tosin Ojuola, had been in detention at the CID Section, expressed shock and asked for time to enable him to find out the real situation from the officer in charge of the CID. However, more than two hours after, the police commissioner did not call back to tell NAN his findings.
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